Awards - Diane McCaulay
The Euan P. McFarlane Environmental Leadership Award
Diana McCaulay of Jamaica: 2005 McFarlane Award Honoree
The recipient of the 2005 Euan P. McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership in the Insular Caribbean is Diana McCaulay of Jamaica. Ms. McCaulay joins an expanding roster of Caribbean environmentalists who have been similarly celebrated since 1987 when the Award was first established. The nomination of Ms. McCaulay was made by the Northern Jamaica Conservation Association in recognition of her 15 years of leadership within the environmental conservation movement of Jamaica. The Association’s nomination emphasized Ms. McCaulay’s role in:
- the founding and management of the Jamaica Environment Trust, the country’s most effective environmental NGO;
- promoting hand-on projects to clean up Jamaica’s waterways and beaches;
- supporting environmental education in the schools through teacher training and curriculum development;
- encouraging community education through outreach programmes and in the media; and
- serving as a tireless advocate for effective environmental regulation and enforcement in Jamaica.
The Jamaica Environment Trust was established in 1991 by Ms. McCaulay and six other concerned Jamaicans. As articulated by Ms. McCaulay, “We were ordinary people, working mothers and fathers. What we had in common was an appreciation for our beautiful island home and concern for our children’s health and future.”
In 1998, after several years as a volunteer environmentalist, Diana left her job as an insurance executive to pursue a new career in environmental conservation. Building on her private-sector management skills, she served as the CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust, directing the organization during its formative years to its current position of leadership in the country.
Working through the Jamaica Environment Trust, Ms. McCaulay played a leading role in the design and implementation of the largest environmental education programme for schools in the Caribbean, the Schools’ Environment Programme. She was also instrumental in establishing the Student Environment Network, whose members have addressed the Jamaican Parliament on environmental issues and assisted with community projects to clean up beaches and provide environmental education in children’s homes.
Ms. McCaulay has written or co-authored numerous publications with environmental themes, including booklets and manuals for use in the schools and a handbook on Jamaican environmental law. As a columnist for Jamaica’s leading newspaper, the Daily Gleaner, she has helped to raise public awareness about environmental issues.
Diana McCaulay is past Chair (1997-1999) of the National Environmental Societies Trust, an umbrella group of Jamaican environmental non-government organizations (NGOs), and a past Director and Vice Chair (1995-2000) of the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica. She served on the Jamaican government’s environmental regulatory board, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, from 2003 to 2005, and in this role was a staunch advocate for environmentally sustainable policy and planning decisions. She also chaired the National Environmental Education committee from 2003-2005.
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